Here's my albums list in all its tl;dr glory. For added interest, I'm going to indicate where EPs fall into my top fifteen - especially because one of them is my release of the year and a number of my favourite songs of the year were released solely on EPs.

- Pinback: Information Retrieved Part B
Pinback's releases are almost always slow burners for me. Initially they're a 3 or 3.5/5, and then a couple of weeks later I realise I'm playing it all the time and love almost all the songs. Not this time. This EP struck me immediately and has kept rising in my esteem; it may only be two songs, but when the songs are this fucking good, who cares. CLOAD "Q" is one of the best songs of their entire career.

1. Russian Circles: Empros (14)
This album had a lot to live up to - Station is my favourite album of the 00s, Russian Circles' other two albums also resonate strongly with me, and this came hot on the heels of the band basically setting up camp in Melbourne for a couple of weeks and banging out some impeccable live shows. Somehow, it succeeds, bringing together some of the band's heaviest moments ever with some of their softest, including their first use of vocals to end the album. Goddamn, that bass; Brian Cook has outdone himself. This is an exceptional example of post-rock/post-metal, and really establishes a benchmark for the 10s.

2. Old Silver Key: Tales Of Wanderings (12)
Neige of Alcest fame gets together with some of Ukraine's finest black metallers from Drudkh to put out one of the best shoegaze albums I have ever heard. It comes complete with a strong post-rock influence. What elevates it above most other 2011 releases though, is Neige's vocals. I can't even explain it, but as soon as that man opens his mouth, you can pretty much guarantee an album is going to place highly for me. November Nights Insomnia is one of Neige's best efforts ever.

3. The Bats: Free All The Monsters (11)
If you had told me at the start of 2011 that a Bats album would place in my top five of the year, I'd have said you're kidding. Sure, they still put out nice enough jangle pop, but their best days are behind them. I am consequently just blown away by this album, where The Bats suddenly reclaim the spark that made their earlier classics such impeccable examples of jangle pop and the Dunedin Sound. There is no question in my mind that this is the equal of Daddy's Highway, Fear Of God, and Silverbeet. And for an album that toys with ideas rarely used on previous Bats albums, it is nonetheless far more cohesive than Bats albums that stay in the same groove. And the melodies are just wonderful; Long Halls and Fingers Of Dawn prove my point in that regard.

4. Sleepmakeswaves: ...And So We Destroyed Everything (10)
It's official: the title of Australia's best post-rock band has passed from Laura to Sleepmakeswaves. After a number of EPs, SMW manage to bring together all of their best qualities for a stunning debut. These guys have such a good ear for melody that they make the whole post-rock template feel fresh and even revelatory again. This album and the Meniscus one also on this list are the two leading examples of Australia's thriving post-rock scene.

5. Washed Out: Within And Without (9)
There are two factors that keep this album from moving into fourth position; the first is Washed Out's fault, and the other rests with me. Firstly, Before blows. Secondly, thanks to past familiarity, You & I and the following two tracks just feel like a single, "You & I + b-sides", leaving the rest of the album as feeling more like a six song EP. But getting past that, this just goes to prove the potential of chillwave. Amor Fati is not only one of the best songs of 2011, but the best chillwave song thus far. Well done, Ernest Greene.

6. Thy Catafalque: Rengeteg (9)
I knew Thy Catafalque were good; the last album was one of 2009's best. But I didn't know they could be this good. Tamás Kátai has outdone himself here. I don't even really know where to begin describing this album, especially since the usual tag of "avant-garde metal" seems so misleading. There is nothing challenging or particularly unorthodox here; it even avoids the wanky riffs and indulgent virtuosity of avant-garde metal's cousin progressive metal, and Thy Catafalque's black metal roots are not tremendously apparent any more. And then there are the keyboards, which don't resemble anything normally seen from keys in metal genres and draw much more influence from the electronic realm. And finally, there is Kátai's ear for a pop melody (you read that right), which is just all over this album. Masterfully original and refreshing.

7. Yuck: Yuck (7)
I suppose when so many of Yuck's obvious influences are favourite bands of mine, it was inevitable that this album would grow on me throughout the year to become a favourite. From Shook Down through to Rose Gives A Lilly, there is barely a fault here - Holing Out and Sunday in particular are great. Rubber is excessively indulgent and The Wall hinders the start a bit, but that doesn't make too much of a dent in the overall proceedings.

8. The Joy Formidable: The Big Roar (7)
This album is an ideal marriage of energetic, soaring shoegaze with heavy indie rock - and the chick's vocals can be simply amazing. Cradle is one of the songs of the year, and my love of it caused me to overlook much of the rest of the album for a little while. That proved to be my loss, given there are great songs all over the place, especially the emphatic closing duo.

9. Mogwai: Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will (5)
It took long enough, but due to this album I have finally gone from casual Mogwai appreciator to regular Mogwai listener. I'm not particularly fussed with offending the Mogwai "canon" adherents either, because this is a damn good album that vindicates their current direction thoroughly.

10. Wolves In The Throne Room: Celestial Lineage (4)
Oh hello Wolves In The Throne Room, I thought you were on a gradual but inevitable decline since your amazing first album. Nice to see that isn't the case! One of the first definitive bands of atmospheric black metal return to claim their rightful crown.

11. Meniscus: War Of Currents (4)
This was a late and very fortuitous discovery, thanks to Meniscus playing support at a Sleepmakeswaves gig in December. Lots of post-rock artists flirt with samples, but Meniscus deftly integrate them into their music with rare talent. Add to that some great guitar melodies and suitably thunderous climaxes, and you've got an exceptional post-rock album.

- Ceremony: Not Tonight
This EP's tasty, catchy noise pop captures all of Ceremony's best qualities in an effective short burst.

12. Woods Of Desolation: Torn Beyond Reason (3)
Holy hell this is just some epic blackgaze; everything that's pummelling and bleak about black metal married with some effects-laden guitars and distant vocals. Darker Days and November are particular highlights.

- The New Division: The Rookie
Sure, their album Shadows was good, but pretty much everything they have released this year lives in the shadows (heh heh heh, I'll be here all week) of the first track of this EP, Starfield. It's one massive slab of shoegaze mating with new wave, and it's one of the songs of the year. Rest of the EP's pretty solid too.

13. Long Distance Calling: Long Distance Calling (2)
I'm still waiting for LDC to blow me away like they did back in the day with the EP version of Fire In The Mountain, but that doesn't detract from how strong this album is.

14. Neon Indian: Era Extraña (2)
Hex Girlfriend is fucking incredible, and most of the remaining tracks are a good supporting cast, though there are some patchy moments. Disappointing to me is that my second favourite song is actually just a throwaway bonus track, Arcade Blues.

15. An Horse: Walls (1)
Rearrange Beds was a good debut, and the duo of An Horse step things up a notch here. Dressed Sharply and Trains and Tracks are songs of the year for me; punchy indie rock with really good hooks. It gets a little patchy by the end but not too seriously. One of the best Aussie albums of the year.

20 honourable mentions, just in alphabetical order (EPs in italics):

65daysofstatic: Silent Running
Big Scary: Vacation
Casa Del Mirto: 1979
Deafheaven: Roads to Judah
Elite Gymnastics: Neu! '92
Explosions In The Sky: Take Care, Take Care, Take Care
Glassjaw: Colouring Book
God Bows To Math: Solar Lights Don't Work At Night
HTRK: Work (Work, Work)
Laura: Twelve Hundred Times
Maybeshewill: I Was Here For A Moment, Then I Was Gone
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart: Belong
Pajama Club: Pajama Club
Pinback: Information Retrieved Part A
Pirate: Left Of Mind
Sex Church: Growing Over
Soror Dolorosa: Blind Scenes
Vagina Vangi: Benighted United and Locked Forever
We Made God: It's Getting Colder

__________________"Mediocrity is never so dangerous as when it is dressed up as sincerity." - Søren Kierkegaard

Ian McCulloch the U2 fan:
"Who buys U2 records anyway? It's just music for plumbers and bricklayers. Bono, what a slob. You'd think with all that climbing about he does, he'd look real fit and that. But he's real fat, y'know. Reminds me of a soddin' mountain goat."
"And as for Bono, he needs a colostomy bag for his mouth."

Bored, hungover. That CLOAD Q song is pretty good, though I'm not sure I dig the vocals. Didn't like November Nights Insomnia much. Didn't know you dug the Yuck album... also surprised to hear you say "so many of Yuck's obvious influences are favourite bands of mine" because you don't like Pavement, do you?